Well, silly me. Nothing to worry about. No Anarchists, no opposition "haters", no rowdy marchers, no danger of being crushed or trampled by the crowd....just 130,000 smiling, happy, positive, determined women, men, and children under mysteriously sunny skies being all polite and funny and creative -- quintessentially Seattle -- in a 3-mile phalanx of humanity moving slowly toward that beacon of modernity, the Space Needle -- where all dispersed and jammed every single bus, monorail, and taxi for hours upon hours (but more about that later...)I will say we did it in style. One of our group had an "in" at the historic Camlin Hotel and booked us a bunch of rooms. It has an old world elegance, updated for the 21st century, but still feeling like you step into the 1920's inside with gold-gilted mirrors and a grand piano in the lobby. (Much classier and understated than those "other" gold-encrusted gaudy T-Towers, of course.) Our group of 20 gathered in a back "party room" and proceeded to create signs, eat snacks, have a glass of sparkling this or that, and get to know each other. There was a core group and then friends of friends. Many of us were strangers from one another. I led a sharing circle where we each spoke to what brought us to the march, what were our hopes and fears about the experience, what support did we need...and how do we get from the hotel to the starting point over a mile away early on Saturday morning: logistics.
Some of us got up early and bussed to the park where the march would start. Some of us decided to join the march a mile in, at an official "entry point" along the route. We later found out that the park, which was projected to hold 25,000 was soon overwhelmed with 50,000 or more people spilling into the neighborhood streets.
My group decided to bus to the first entry point -- a plan several hundred other people also made. We arrived to a large, colorful, cheerful crowd awaiting a first glance at the marchers headed our way. A large lead contingent of police cars and cops on bikes came by, then the marchers. We soon wove our way into the throng and off we went -- part of the excitement, part of the presence, part of history. I felt a wave of so many emotions; so grateful for my friends and sharing this with them; grateful for the positive vibe all around me and the feeling of safety, shared values, and sense of community where babies to teens joined with adults of all ages, to the very aged with walkers and canes all putting our bodies on the streets and cheering from the sidewalks all along the march route.
Pink-eared 'pussy' hats (as in cat) were the predominant headwear -- women, men, children and dogs donned the knitted hats, a nod to the infamous crude quote by the man who is now the president about the female body part he feels entitled to grab when with women he finds attractive. We took his crudeness and owned it as our own -- Pussy Power.
There had been a call for silent march and for the most part it was. We had quiet conversations with each other and offered words of complement and encouragement to those around us, but there were no loud chants or shouts or songs or anything negative at all! It was a wave of love or at least good humor where satire was more effective than anger.
We reached the Space Needle, hearing that some of our original group were still almost 3 miles behind us, having taken nearly 2 hours to exit the park! We three Shiny Sisters Ubered back to downtown Seattle and took our place on the sidewalk, watching the marchers pass until the end. It was a moment of profound delight and pride. Not one altercation. No incidents of violence or discord. And that seems to be the case across all marches everywhere around the US and the world. I've heard of no arrests, even at the massive 500,000- person march in Washington DC. Love Wins.And then you have to find your way home.... We three retrieved our bags from the hotel and made for the bus station to hop onboard and head 25 miles north to home. Not too many people at the stop, so we felt confident. Then the first articulated bus came by jammed with people and the driver said "no more room". Some at the stop said that was the FOURTH full bus! Hmmm....a little discouraging. But we waited for the next bus. Same thing. It was getting dark. We were tired. On to Plan B. If we took a bus south to the beginning of the line, we could get on and get a seat before it did the whole route and was jammed! Brilliant.
We schlepped our bags to a different bus stop and hopped onboard a mostly empty bus that goes underground through the bus tunnel. We were relieved, chatting away, people watching, reviewing the day and when we emerged from the tunnel it was full dark and we were rolling past Safeco Field at a high rate of speed and onto I-90 east to Bellevue. Hmmm....we'd missed our stop and were now expressing about 10 miles out of our way. Damn! That wasn't the plan! But what can ya do?
Fortunately one of us (not me) pulled up the bus schedule and figured out how to get home from Bellevue -- only two more buses! Once at the transit station we had to run to catch the next bus or wait an hour, but we made it. We were finally on our way to at least be in our home county! But alas, soon we were at a dead stop on the interstate due to a horrible roll-over accident and all lanes briefly blocked for emergency vehicles. We broke out the chocolate and potato chips. It was well past dinnertime.
Once past the accident and on our way again, we relaxed into knowing we'd soon be at the bus station that would get us to the bus home. But then....the driver slowed to a crawl and pulled over on the shoulder of the freeway and turned off the bus. Everything went completely dark for a moment. Now what??? We have no idea. He cranked the engine and we were soon on our way, but something was obviously wrong because he was hanging in the right lane going about 40 MPH. We made it though, got on the bus home, and nearly collapsed into the car when a kind husband met us at the station. The trip home was nearly as long as the march, but hey, it was another Shiny Sister bonding experience where we got distracted, had great conversations, disagreed, got a little pissed, people-watched, ate, read Facebook posts to each other, and laughed A LOT. Typical outing for us.
So, the march was much more than the march. We were part of history, we showed up and "spoke" with our presence that we will not be silenced and we will be watching and participating in working for our values, our vision, our Democracy. We were part of a huge community of souls around the globe (millions all over the world marched on 1/21/17!), among the citizens within a free and proud United States, members of a small community of friends old and new in Seattle, and held within a smaller knot of friends- to-the-end from our own county to the north. Eventually each of us ended up singularly in her bed last night, grateful for all of it -- even the interminable bus adventure. Can't wait 'til next time....WE RISE! STRONGER TOGETHER!
At least, that's the view from here...©
